One of Downtown’s dining destinations is scheduled to be featured in prime time Wednesday on cable and satellite television network the Travel Channel.
The duck grilled cheese sandwich, one of the signature menu choices at olio at 301 E. Bay St., is a wild card finalist on “Best Sandwich in America.”
Host and producer of the contest and program, Adam Richman, claimed TV culinary fame with his “Man vs. Food” series. That production took him across America in search of 7-pound burritos, 12-patty burgers and pizzas topped with heaps of habanero peppers that Richman devoured single-handedly to the delight of live audiences and viewers.
“Best Sandwich in America” has sent Richman across the U.S. again in search of the most outstanding combination of bread and fillings in the country.
The story behind how olio owner and chef Greg DeSanto’s duck grilled cheese creation made it into the competition begins with one of his customers and ends with the Internet.
“One of our regulars, Katherine Burns, noticed there was a contest on the Travel Channel’s website. She nominated the sandwich,” DeSanto said.
A social media campaign then began to encourage people to visit the site and vote for DeSanto’s duck grilled cheese. The sandwich earned enough clicks to be included in the program’s one-hour finale as a wild card entry.
“I had heard about viral social media, but I never expected it to explode the way it did,” said DeSanto.
Richman and his video crew visited olio on a Sunday afternoon months ago and recorded DeSanto in the kitchen, combining thick slices of sourdough bread, duck cooked in its own fat, American and gruyere cheeses and tomato and then grilling the sandwich to a rich golden brown.
“I was impressed with how much Adam Richman knows about food and I think he was impressed with the sandwich,” DeSanto said.
The entire experience has been “surreal,” said DeSanto. He is surprised by how many people have come into the restaurant because they heard about the sandwich.
DeSanto said that since the new courthouse opened, there is a lot more parking available around the restaurant, and he’s seeing more business from the Southside and Beaches in addition to his customers who work Downtown.
“We even have conventioneers who are staying in the Downtown hotels come in wearing their badges and say they heard about our duck grilled cheese,” he said.
Open since May 2011, olio has gained a level of popularity that could increase through the national and international exposure from the contest.
“I never set out to be famous, but to get a nod from the Travel Channel, as an entrepreneur, it’s a great thing,” he said.
The selection of the “Best Sandwich in America” is scheduled at 9 p.m. Wednesday on the Travel Channel at Comcast Ch. 126, DIRECTV Ch. 277 and Dish Network Ch. 196.
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